Generative AI Enhances Strategic Planning with 50% Faster Simulations

Written byCoin World
Friday, Jul 11, 2025 6:14 am ET2min read

Strategic planning has always been a challenging task for business leaders, and this challenge is amplified during times of global uncertainty and volatility. In such times, an organization’s ability to adapt and be resilient becomes crucial. Research has shown that resilience is a significant driver of corporate outperformance. However, building resiliency and optionality into a strategic plan can be difficult due to the cognitive and financial limitations of humans. This is where generative AI (GenAI) comes into play. GenAI can help overcome human biases and limitations, while also exploiting the creativity and human-like behavioral patterns of large language models (LLMs).

One effective way to incorporate GenAI into strategic planning is by coupling it with agent-based modeling (ABM). Traditional ABM uses deterministically coded agents, which are limited by human imagination. However, modern LLMs can make simulations more flexible, human-like, and unpredictable, all at a fraction of the time and cost of in-person planning workshops. This allows for a wider range of futures to be explored and prepared for with greater agility.

GenAI has the potential to enhance strategic tools like war gaming and scenario planning. By simulating interpersonal or inter-institutional dynamics, GenAI can provide insights into a range of scenarios, from boardroom discussions to international competition and engagement with regulators. ABM has been used in the social and natural sciences to simulate complex scenarios, but with the advent of LLMs, it is now within reach for most companies. This use of LLMs is not to be confused with the buzzword "agentic AI."

The OODA loop, often used in military contexts, can be applied to business strategy. It involves observing, orienting, deciding, and acting quickly. GenAI can aid in this process by providing flexible, cheap, and scalable simulations that help organizations become better, faster learners. The BCG Henderson Institute has developed a multi-agent LLM simulation platform that has been used to mirror actual war games and scenario planning sessions. This platform exploits two unique features of GenAI: its anthropomorphism, or ability to mimic human behavior, and its stochasticity, or creativity.

LLMs can role-play in a remarkably human-like fashion, simulating individual personalities and decision-making patterns with high accuracy. They are also stochastic, meaning that the same inputs won’t always result in the same output. This inherent randomness can be a source of creativity, allowing for the exploration of a wider range of possible futures. By using a modeling platform that incorporates multiple LLMs, it becomes possible to simulate a range of agents, each with their own set of idiosyncrasies and agendas, all of which more closely resemble real-life, dynamic interactions. This also helps minimize the role of human biases in the prompting of a single model.

LLM-powered ABM can help leaders develop and augment their strategic planning efforts in several ways. It can help detect blind spots by allowing organizations to better identify unknown unknowns. This can expand strategic imagination and foster more adaptive, option-rich planning. It can also extend the reach of strategic planning tactics by making them more accessible and frequent. Additionally, it can facilitate convergence by building confidence in an organization’s strategic decisions and helping leaders unite around a shared strategic direction.

For organizations that want to get started with LLM-powered ABM, the first step is to augment strategic decision-making processes with multi-agent GenAI platforms. This doesn’t require starting from scratch; leaders should prioritize using existing frameworks to help establish inter-agent goals, context, and dynamics. It’s important to use the platform before and alongside existing strategic planning sessions, and to run it at scale in order to find the most resilient strategic steps. Those results can then be used to build consensus on strategic decisions, to harness and maximize the potential of the future rather than fearing the uncertainty that comes with it.

Starting now can help make AI a routine input, helping organizations acclimate to an environment of higher-frequency change and adaptation informed by real-time learning. Evidence shows that resilience and optionality are now more important than they have been in decades. The sooner that a company can upgrade its strategic planning and foresight capabilities, the more likely it’ll be to thrive in a world of heightened uncertainty.

Sign up for free to continue reading

Unlimited access to AInvest.com and the AInvest app
Follow and interact with analysts and investors
Receive subscriber-only content and newsletters

By continuing, I agree to the
Market Data Terms of Service and Privacy Statement

Already have an account?

Comments



Add a public comment...
No comments

No comments yet